Life Changing

Chapter 5

I woke up to the lights out, I rubbed my eyes then sat up, instantly looking for Scott.
I mumbled" Scott?" I stood up, everything was hazy," Scott!" The room faded, I was in the hospital now... I saw the dark figure standing before me. I gulped,
I screamed" Scott! Scott?!" It started walking towards me," No, no! No, no, no! Stay away from me! Scott! Help me! Scott, where are you?!" Then I was surrounded...

I gasped, sitting up, I was in Scott's room, but he wasn't here, I pulled my knees up, rocking myself slightly, tears ran down my face.
What seemed like eternity, which was probably an hour or so, his door opened and I saw him.
He asked" Cleo? Cleo!" He turned on the lights and ran to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly," Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" I was shaking," Cleo, hey, hey..." He held my face, making me look at him," Shh, shh, calm down. I'm right here, big brother is right here." I focused again, sobbing, crashing my body into his chest, He sat down, holding me tightly. Rocking us back and forth, kissing my head...
I mumbled" Shadow man was back... I-I couldn't find you, I got so scared, Scotty."
He whispered" Hey, I'm never gonna let Shadow man get you, okay? Never ever. I'd never let Shadow man get my baby sister." I relaxed against him, gulping," I should have woken you up when I left, I'm sorry. Wanna go back to sleep?" I shook my head," Want some hot chocolate?" I nodded, he kissed my head," Here, stay right here. I'll be back in a minute." He let go of me, running downstairs, I whimpered, staring at the door.

After a few minutes, he came back in, with a hot chocolate, he sat next to me, wrapping his arm around me, while handing me the mug.
He whispered" Wanna tell me what Shadow Man did in this nightmare, Cleo?"
I mumbled" I-I woke up here... then I was at the hospital, in my old room. I saw it standing before me, it got closer, and closer... then I was surrounded by it."
" Why does that sound familiar?"
" Because it was the same nightmare, two years ago before I got really sick again."
" That could be a coincidence."
" How big of a percentage of coincidence are we talking about?"
" As little as possible, let's just say it was just a dream, and dreams sometimes repeat."
" Okay, Scotty." I gulped down the rest of the cocoa, I started feeling drowsy, I looked at him. He gulped," You... Scott!"
" I'm sorry, it's just a low dosage, as low as I could get. Kid's dosage."
" But... I hate it!"
" Okay, okay, I know, just you need to sleep." I laid my head on his shoulder, he took the mug away, laying me down and kissing my head. I yawned, closing my eyes, I nuzzled my face into his chest." I love you, Moo, goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the flies bite." I giggled," Go to sleep, Moo."
" Goodnight, Scotty." He kissed my head again, wrapping an arm around me, I fell asleep, knowing I was safe in Scott's arms. He'd never let anyone or the shadow man hurt me. He's my big brother, it's practically his job to protect me.
———
I was writing down notes,
The teacher said" Remember the parent/teacher conference is tonight, students below a C average are required to attend." A lot of kids dropped their heads, I wasn't worried for myself... but Scott? God, Scott... he's so dead after tonight. Mom's going to kick his ass!

I was cram studying for a test in less than 30 minutes, Stiles skidded to a stop in front of me.
He said" Have you seen Lydia?"
I said" No, dude."
" What're you doing?"
" Cramming."
" Test?"
" Yep!"
" You'll do great, you always do great."
" Not when the shadow man is lurking my nightmares."
" Shado- It's back?"
" Yep, it's back... and Scott and myself are choosing to ignore it till it goes away."
" Dudes at my own heart, look, everything's gonna be okay."
" Where is Scott?"
" Uh..." He scratched the back of his neck, I grabbed my phone and called Scott's but it went straight to voicemail... his phone's off.
" Stiles..."
" He's with Allison, they bailed."
" Scott's not here?" I started shaking, no, no, no," Like... he's not... he's not here, not in school?"
" Moo, hey, breathe." He grabbed my inhaler and gave it to me, I took a breather." He'll be back before you know it and I'll make sure he begs on his knees for forgiveness." I laughed, he smiled," Seriously, he'll be like..." He made an over exaggerated Scott face," Oh, Cleo! I didn't mean to leave you! Cleo, I'm so sorry!" I started laughing," Don't be mad at me, please, I didn't mean to not tell you! It was a spur of the moment thing!" I covered my mouth, Stiles smiled," See, it'll be totally hilarious." He kissed my head, closing my books," Now eat something and drink water, before I kick your ass. And I'll be taking this so I know you won't ignore my plea and continue to study." He took my notes," Bye, Moo!" I groaned and began eating, He walked away with my notes... I love him, but I also love to hate him.
———
Scott hasn't shown up! Nor is he answering his phone! And mom is pissed off! And obviously, I'm not gonna rat out my brother, so luckily mom hasn't asked anything to me yet. I stuck into Mom's conference with Mr. Harris, I was hidden behind a desk.
Mom tried Scott again," Where the hell are you? Get to the school now."
Mr. Harris said" How about we get started?"
" Sure."
" Lately Scott's mind has been somewhere else, as has his body. Personally, I think it may have something to do with his home situation."
" Oh, well, personally, I'm not sure what you mean by home situation."
" Uh, specifically the lack of an authority figure."
" Yeah, I'm the authority figure, so..."
" Sorry, allow me to clarify. I mean the lack of a male authority figure."
" Oh."
" Well, trust me, we're much better off without him in the picture."
" Well, does Scott feel the same way?"
" Yes. I think so. I hope so."
" But he's going through some difficult changes. He just needs a little extra attention, a guiding hand through this crucial stage of his development."
" And my daughter, Cleo?"
" She's surprisingly doing better than I thought she would, due to all of the decisions she's had to make. She is quite paranoid, and mumbles a lot during tests." Paranoid?! I am not paranoid!
" Paranoid?"
" She's always glancing to the doors or clock, checking her phone under the desk."
" Oh."
" I believe she's starting to follow in her brother's footsteps."
" No, no, she... well." Come on, mom! Defend me!," She's had difficulties, is still having difficulties but she's brilliant and tough."
" What about a male authority figure? Does she feel the same way as you do?"
" Yeah, I hope so." I snuck back out, oh man! Scott McCall, where the hell are you?!

I was in the parking lot, I saw Allison and Scott pull up, then Mom walked out, I hid behind the wall. I ran to Allison's car, knocking on her window, they jumped. She cracked open her door,
I said" Hi, Allison. Scott, you're a dead man walking, dude!"
Scott mumbled" Oh, I'm dead."
" I say run away and join the circus in Russia."
" Go, I'll talk to you later."
" Yeah, at your funeral, from the casket."
" Go." I walked away, sneaking past mom again.
I saw Mom walk up to Allison's parents... oh, my god, Scott's dead. Scott and Allison got out of her car, finally, oh god... Scott's dead, mom's gonna kill him! The parents walked up to them, I walked to them, as I saw people moving away from something in the parking lot. We'd know if it was the Alpha, right? Cause it's like huge and scary, and scary! Scott walked off, looking around, I gulped, mom grabbed my arm. Scott saved Allison from getting hit, then Sheriff was backed onto, Mr. Argent shot the mountain lion. I followed Scott as he walked up to it, following Mr. Argent, I held onto Scott's arm, looking at the thing.
————
We were home, Scott was laying on his bed, I was spinning in his chair,
He said" Recap?"
I said" Um... Stiles going crazy about something about Lydia, me having an anxiety attack because you bailed without telling me, Harris so got you in trouble with mom, Harris called me paranoid... am I paranoid?"
" No."
" You got caught by mom and Allison's parents!"
" Yeah, I know."
" Where did you two go, anyways?"
" Out, both our phones were off, and I blanked on the conference."
" Scott!"
" I know, I know... hear any of the other teachers?"
" Nope, only Harris. He called me paranoid, I am not paranoid!"
" You're not, you're just anxious... all the time."
" Scott!"
" I'm sorry."
" I'm still mad at you for bailing and not telling me."
" I'm sorry, okay? It was a spur of the moment thing, kinda just happened right after we got to school."
" Good to know!"
" I love you."
" Love you too, loser."